Secure LLM API keys by keeping them server-side, storing them in a managed secret system, scoping each key to one owner and environment, restricting models, setting spend limits, monitoring usage, rotating regularly, and making revocation immediate.
The INFRO view: INFRO turns model credentials into scoped platform credentials with centralized usage visibility and controls.
Treat keys as financial authority
A stolen model key can expose data and create spend. Never ship a privileged provider or gateway key in browser, mobile, desktop, or public repository code. Client applications should call your authenticated backend or use a narrowly scoped short-lived mechanism designed for that environment.
Give every key a documented owner, workload, environment, and expiry or review date.
Reduce the blast radius
Use separate keys for production, staging, development, services, and important customers where appropriate. Apply model allowlists, rate controls, and hard spend ceilings so compromise cannot access every capability or consume the whole account.
Do not share one key across a company. Shared credentials make rotation risky and investigation ambiguous.
Store, inject, and rotate
Keep secrets in a managed secret store, inject them at runtime, prevent them from entering logs, and scan repositories and build artifacts. Rotation should support overlapping old and new keys so production can move without downtime.
Revoke unused keys and keys whose owner or service no longer exists. Inventory drift is a security bug.
Detect and respond
Alert on unusual model access, geography where available, sudden request or spend changes, repeated authentication failures, and activity outside the workload's normal hours. Link the key to request traces for fast investigation.
Document the response: revoke, rotate, contain the service, inspect logs, notify stakeholders, and review whether the ceiling worked.
Where INFRO fits
Teams can separate keys and projects, restrict model access, inspect request activity, and apply spend boundaries without distributing multiple upstream provider secrets through every application. The INFRO key becomes the stable client credential while provider operations stay behind the control plane.
Follow the security documentation, API quickstart, and enterprise controls. Confirm the exact key-scoping and rotation workflow available in private early access.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put an LLM API key in frontend code?
Do not put a privileged key in code a user can inspect. Send requests through your authenticated backend or a purpose-built short-lived client mechanism.
How often should LLM keys be rotated?
Rotate on a defined schedule, immediately on suspected exposure, and whenever ownership or service boundaries change. Automate overlapping rotation when possible.
Why use an INFRO key instead of provider keys?
An INFRO key can access allowed supported models through one control plane while centralizing request visibility, model policy, and spend boundaries.
